Error on French-language posters in downtown Ottawa turning heads

A typo was noticed on many French-language posters in downtown Ottawa. (Scott Rook/CTV News Ottawa)

An apparent translation error on posters promoting a City of Ottawa initiative is turning some heads in downtown Ottawa, swapping one French word for another with a very different meaning.

The city installed purple-coloured posters this week to promote its Street Seats pilot program or “Uncommon Spaces,” closing off three sections of Centretown to vehicles to build spaces for gatherings and events.

Several social media users pointed out a typo on the French-language signs promoting the initiative that read “Placettes Pubiques,” missing the letter “L” in “Publiques.”

It’s the equivalent of missing the same letter in the word “public” in English.

As of Saturday afternoon, CTV News Ottawa spotted about a dozen of the posters all lined up along Bank Street, with the French signs all including the error.

CTV News has reached out to the City of Ottawa for comment.

A City of Ottawa report shows there were 24 complaints about French-language in 2025, 16 of which were related to signage and display errors.

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